Ten years ago, Canadian destroyers intercepted unmarked ships off the coast of British Columbia in one of the largest human-smuggling operations in Canadian history.
About 600 people were transported aboard four migrant ships, most of them from Fujian province in China.
Some disappeared, many were sent home, but a few dozen were allowed to stay -- including Michael Lin.
Lin was only 17 when he boarded a smugglers boat in China. His family was poor and his future was grim.
"You think you go to America, find friends, find a job, make your money," he said.
But instead he spent a terrifying two months at sea.
"A lot of people sick and lot of people scared. One person died on our ship," he said.
Then, on August 11, 1999, landfall.
Lin said he and his fellow passengers were dropped off 30 metres from land, where they swam to the shore expecting to find America.
But it wasn't America. It was the Queen Charlotte Islands.
"The Canadian government was really kind," Lin said. "They give you a chance, let you stay here."
Lin found a granite job in Burnaby. For six years, most of his money -- roughly $80,000 -- went to the smugglers who were threatening his family back in China.
But with the help of his case worker Lu Yan Zhu, he is now a business owner and a home owner. And soon, he hopes to become a Canadian Citizen.
"If you're working hard," Lin said, "I think everybody can make a good life."
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Shannon Paterson
